The Sun Singles Collection ’55-’59

Johnny Cash's first-ever single, "Cry! Cry! Cry!", kicks things off here, and as "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line," "Get Rhythm" and "Luther Played Boogie" all come up, you get a sense of just how formative (and successful) Cash's years at Sun were. That's just scratching the surface of this extensive collection, though, which offers 28 tracks marked by that identifying chunkity-chunk; Luther Perkins' infinitely distinctive guitar playing; and Cash's smooth, smooth baritone, perfectly reverbed on these sides. It's almost enough to make you forget Joaquin Phoenix was even born.